Re: Food and Health?

Determining what works is part of the problem. It's why I do as much home monitoring as I can, sort of as a hobby. This morning I had a bone density scan I'm only allowed to have every 2 years. That's a long time to wait to find out whether what I have been doing to protect my bones is working, and I actually tried a few different things during that time. Lately I've learned that high levels of dietary Vitamin C might be much more important for bone health than calcium intake. It will only be a couple more years before I know if that might have been true for me. I find out in a couple days whether I have that flexibility, because I refuse to take any of the prescription meds to avoid osteoporosis.

Re: Food and Health?

Originally Posted by Ellen

I think there's no such thing as a "one size fits all" diet/nutritional lifestyle. Genetics, personal health issues, type of activity, body type, etc., are all factors. Just like in the traditional Asian medicine models, what works for one may not necessarily work for another with the same ailment.

The key — which looks like you've found — is to find what works for you and stick primarily with it.

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't usually go in for "diets" whenever they exclude foods (except junk foods). Unless you're sensitive or allergic to certain foods (when they must be excluded), I can see limiting foods, but I don't understand completely excluding them. We don't even fully know what nutrients our foods contain... we're always discovering new thing about what we eat. I don't want to miss out on any of it. Remember the egg cholesterol scare? Everyone now knows that eggs are fine in moderation... and more than ok, they are DELICIOUS.

For example, for lunch today, I had a small homemade chicken salad wrap, three pieces of crab and dip, raspberries, carrots, and a couple of slices of applewood smoked cheddar. Heavenly (!) and healthy, but many diets wouldn't have allowed that lunch to happen.

Re: Food and Health?

I've been on vacation and was trying to stick as much as possible to my "nutritarian" way of life (greens, beans, fruit, and nuts/seeds) but every day took me further off the path. I'm ok with that - it was vacation and I tried. Back home, my house-sitter had barely eaten any of the foods she requested, so I gave some I would definitely never eat (Cheezits, Ritz crackers) to a neighbor and have been working my way through sweetened yogurt, coconut ice cream, Life cereal, and 4 hamburger patties because I'm not the sort of person who throws food out. I am finally nearing the point where I'll be back to a truly healthy diet... just in time for another vacation with my daughter to Amsterdam. At least I won't be coming home to junk food this time.

Re: Food and Health?

Originally Posted by Ellen

I think there's no such thing as a "one size fits all" diet/nutritional lifestyle. Genetics, personal health issues, type of activity, body type, etc., are all factors. Just like in the traditional Asian medicine models, what works for one may not necessarily work for another with the same ailment.

The key — which looks like you've found — is to find what works for you and stick primarily with it.

I watched a BBC series called "The Food Hospital". (It's on YouTube.) Doctors and a nutritionist prescribe various diets for different ailments (eczema, depression, high cholesterol, epilepsy, IBS, alopecia, etc.). It's interesting to see how some foods really help some conditions and aggravate others. Some of the results are amazing. Some like depression are rated with self-report measures, so the results are suspect, IMO. But many others (like cholesterol counts) are measured scientifically. And others, like eczema, the before and after results are visual.

Re: Food and Health?

Kip, I'll have to check that out since I battle skin issues. I'm okay now, since my dermatologist prescribed this cream for me. It was miracle, but still, I'm told the condition will resurface eventually.

Can someone give me their take on this situation? I'm not sure what to make of it. It's really odd. I just want to know what I must be missing.

Everyone is free to eat what they want, but I recently noticed something in my family that has me scratching my head.
My mom has been a diet/food fan for as long as I can remember. She reads health magazines, watching Dr. Oz, etc. She and I regularly discuss various things in the news about health and nutrition. A few months ago I read quite a bit about ground beef. Of concern were hormones in the meat, chemicals the animal consumed, in addition to the fat. My mom was in agreement that it was a danger and should be avoided. We talked about how increasing the vegetables and fruits would be best and how avoiding the ground beef would help us. (My dad has coronary heart disease, so his diet is very important.) She said she was going to steer clear and go for the more poultry and fish. I said I was too, unless I could get organic, low fat ground beef.

Fast forward a couple of days. I started getting organic beef, turkey burgers or bean burgers, HOWEVER, I immediately noticed how my mom went into ground beef overload. I noticed she always had a couple of packs in the fridge and was serving it a lot more than ever before. If I came in and it was not meal time, she would offer to make me a burger like it was a great idea....it was as if the conversation never happened. I declined and said, no, I'm trying to avoid ground beef.

I bought some turkey and bean burgers to keep in their freezer for when I am there, so I don't have to eat their ground beef. She accepts that and doesn't seem insulted. I just eat my turkey or bean burger with her side dishes.

It's just that since the conversation of the dangers of ground beef, she has tripled her consumption. AND she's serving it to my father who doesn't need it due to his heart condition. PLUS, my mom has chronic gout and beef is not a good food to consume when you have chronic gout. AND she tells me that she doesn't care for gound beef!!!!!!!

Any suggestions on why this is happening? I want to respect her right to eat what she wants, but I dont' get this sudden obsesssion with ground beef.

Re: Food and Health?

I think all you can do in that case is ask her. Maybe remind her about the conversation you had with her about ground beef and ask if she changed her mind about it. Maybe all the conversation did was trigger her to think about ground beef more, perhaps even subconciously.

Re: Food and Health?

Re: Food and Health?

Okay. I just felt that if I ask her outright, she will take it as me disapproving of her choice.

I thought of something else that she did the same thing about. Margarine. We discussed how it's not good for you and it's best to use olive oil when possible and then butter in moderation. I even asked the DOCTOR about it when we were there with my dad. I asked him point blank and he said, it's best to AVOID the margarine. Use a little butter, but no margarine. (My mom's bad cholesterol is too high.)

I have noticed that she has gone on a margarine overload. Lots of it in the fridge. I see her serving it all the time. It's very frustating. I'll have to approach it delicately though.

Re: Food and Health?

Originally Posted by Gutmutter

Sounds like ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). Do you notice her doing similar things in other areas of her life?

Well, I think just the beef and margarine. I can't recall anything else just now. It's really odd. She knows she's supposed to drink lots of water to help prevent gout, but she won't do it. I gave up on that. It's almost like she doesn't want her health to be better.